The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1887-01-19
THE LAUNDRY GIRLS.
Talk Nth One of Them About tho Pc
irons of the Establishment.

THE LAUNDRY GIRLS.
Talk With one of Them About tho Pc
irons of the Establishment.
Under the impetus of civilization the
laundry business has become an inn
portant industry in large cities. The
pretty laundry girl with banged hair.
rosy cheeks. soft voice, and glib tongue
is nm essential feature of the system.
She is found in all her perfection in
Chicago. Standing behind a counter.
jauntily and gayly attired. she acts as
magnet TO attract the masculine gender
who have shirts and hose to wash. The
laundry girl has a hard life. Her hours
on duty are very wearisomc. She must
be on duty at o'clock in the morning.
There she must remain until or 10
o'clock at night. Nobody in the world
has better opportunity to observe the
good and bad side of men than she
has. If she is pretty and young every
masher in the community attempts to
paw her court. The little Office where
the washing is received is usually be-
sicgcd by gang of disreputablc loaf
crs, who offers the fair clerks all sorts of
indignities under the guise of lustful add
miration. She is expected TO remain
good-natured and agreeable in spite of
all the improper remarks and contemp-
tiblc proposals which are the only
thoughts of the professional masher A
pretty girl, who is well known among
the patrons of laundries has had sew
cral years experience in the business.
Her opinion of men is decidedly unfav-
orablc. She uses good deal of slang.
II have hard time of IT," she said to
a reporter who left some of his linen TO
be relieved of its sable coloring you
can't appreciate what brutes some men
are. OF course, many gentlemen deal
with us and treat us with respect. We
arc bothered to death by deadbeats,
snidc gamblers, and baseball players.
Those fellows are stuck on themselves,
and think the girls get mashed on them
right away. They're badly left. Some
of them come in here with shirt and
Il pair of cuffs and II collar and want to
talk with me two or three hours. I'm
asked twenty times a day. Can l sec
YOU home tonight A few dudes try
The love racket. They say I'm the sweet
est girl they ever saw and bewail their
forlorn condition. Can't find any girl
who'll have them. Won't | take pity
on them? and all that slush Ii goes in
one ear and out of the other with me-"
lis any one mean enough TO beat YOU
out of your pay for the laundry workp'
Why. | should say so. A prominent
lawyer in this town owes me 50, and l
can't collect Il cent He would come
after his bundle and say. I'll pay you
for this after while, when the bills a
little bigger A great many fellows
take advantage of my good nature in
trusting them. Sometimes n man will
bring in pair of cuffs and then want
to borrow dime.
''Do you have many bundles uncalled
for"
Yes Men will leave packages three
or four weeks, and then if they have
been mislaid will raise howl and
want 30 cents pair for cuffs that didn't
cost over ID cents when new. If a poor
devil has all his linen in wash | often
LET him have it for nothing"
What pay do the girls get:?"
That depends on circumstances and
the amount of trade they can command.
The highest wages know of is 80 per
week. and there is only one or two girls
vino get that much. Some of them run
Is low as ~. Nine dollars Is little
enough for girl in this business when
you consider what we have TO stand.
There is one nice, quiet gentleman pa
tron of this laundry who always gives
me ~ whether his bill amounts to that
or not He chats pleasantly with me
for few minutes and then leaves.
That's the kind of 4 man like TO deal
with"
do the girls ever turn out bad?''
Il understand they do occasionally.
| have heard OF three or four who have
been not only ruined, but are now lead
ing lives of shame; but large majority
OtUs are pure women. We can't help bad
men talking about Us. The better we
are the more they scandalize us. / tell
YOU IFS shame the way in which we
are treated by loafers, who. after in
sulting us, tell all sorts of vile stories"
- ticd0O JTiLHUc